Investigating the Empirical Relationship between Concentrations in High-Skill Industries and Poverty Rates among Low-Skill Residents in a Sample of United States Cities

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between high-skill intensive industries and poverty rates among low-skilled residents in a sample of cities in the United States. We estimate a model of poverty rates among low-skill residents to examine whether cities with higher economic concentrations in high-skill intensive industries tend to have higher poverty rates among their low-skill residents. Our results suggest that there is a statistically significant and positive relationship between the two variables. We interpret our results in the context of previous findings and discuss the policy implications.